The South Korean Ministry of Health said on Tuesday in Seoul that 87 people have been diagnosed as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) surged to 87 on Monday with 23 new cases.
South Korea became the world’s most MERS-contagious except Saudi Arabia, where more than 1,000 cases were identified since the first case was reported in 2012.
South Korea topped the United Arab Emirates, which 76 recorded infections.
The ministry said among the 23 new cases, 17 people were infected from the 14th patient at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul.
It said the 14th infected patient was estimated to have transported the virus from the Pyeongtaek St. Mary’s Hospital, where the first patient was hospitalised for three days.
It said these infected at the Samsung Medical Centre soared to 34.
It said a 75 year-old female patient, diagnosed with the MERS Monday, visited two other hospitals in Seoul for two days from June 5 after being exposed to the corona virus at the Samsung Medical Centre.
The health authorities asked people visiting the two hospitals to be put under self-quarantine after reporting their visit to the authorities and not to visit other hospitals.
The MERS is a respiratory illness caused by a new type of corona-virus, similar to the SARS that killed more than 770 people worldwide following a 2003 outbreak.
There is no known vaccine or treatment for the MERS, of which fatality rate reaches 40.7 percent.
The first MERS case was spotted in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organisation has reported more than 1,000 cases globally and more than 400 deaths. (Xinhua/NAN)